Ealing Eagles Running Club is entirely run by volunteers.
We say this all the time, so most of you are probably well aware of this. But did you know how many volunteers it takes to keep the club going?
Well, there are currently 8 committee members for a start. Then two club runs every week, which each have a leader and two tail runners. That's 14. We then have coached sessions on a Tuesday and Thursday, so that's two more. Plus Beginners twice, sometimes three times a week and the Improver's sessions, which are commonly two additional coached sessions a week. That takes us up to 21. We also have 4 club members who manage the Junior section. Plus the person who collates all the club champs information. Plus Mr. Kit, the fabulous Piers Express.
That's a bare minimum of 26 volunteers needed each week to keep this club of around 800 members going. That's over 1,250 opportunities to volunteer every year, most of which are filled by the same small group of amazing regular volunteers.
And that doesn't even count the additional volunteers we need for the Juniors and Beginner's sessions. It doesn't include the 10k committee, or the team who arrange the Gunnersbury summer league. It doesn't include captains for events like the Welsh Castles or the Green Belt, Summer League and Cross Country. It doesn't include marshals, pacers, timekeepers. It doesn't include the people who bring the tea urn and cakes to events. And it doesn't include all the club coaches who work behind the scenes putting together training plans and meeting with their coachees in their spare time.
We ask all club members to volunteer for something twice each year. This isn;t a nice to have, it's vital for the club to run effectively.
There are loads of things you can do - at the moment these include:
- Run leader for club run - check out the schedule under the training section on the Eagles Nest and add your name! You just need to turn up on time, welcome new people, make the weekly announcements, and lead some stretches at the end (or ask a pal to do that). The full information is under 'volunteer roles' on the Eagles Nest. Please note if you would like to be a run leader, send us a quick email to info@ealingeagles.com so we can add you to the email list and the Google sheet we use for new member information and announcements.
- Tail running - even easier - you just need to add your name to the same schedule as above, turn up on time, and run at the pace of the slowest runner for the short or long club run. You get a nice chat and an enormous sense of well-being from helping people along.
- Volunteer with the beginners - Wei Hei runs the beginner's like a well oiled machine, but she can't do it on her own! Volunteers are always needed so that different groups can run at the same session. If you're not sure what it's all about email us or offer to run with the beginners at parkrun first to get an idea of how it works. Again you get that chat and the pleasure of helping someone on their way.
- Gunnersbury Summer League - you can volunteer to help organise this event, or volunteer on the day as a marshal or a water station attendant. We also need Summer League captains for both the men's and ladies teams this year.
- Coaching - the club offers support for members who would like to support the club by achieving the recognised LiRF and CiRF qualifications. Volunteers are also always welcome to assist the coaches at specific sessions. Contact coaching@ealingeagles.com if you would like to help or are interested in gaining a coaching qualification.
- Juniors - the juniors section meets on Monday evenings and still needs volunteers. Is Monday your rest day? There you go then!
To volunteer for any of the above roles, register your interest by emailing us at info@ealingeagles.com. Other opportunities for specific events come up all the time, so keep an eye out on the newsletter and Facebook.